FF Unit Rounded

Rounded typefaces go in and out of fashion. They are often used for type on screen, or for back-lit signs. Sharp type will look blunt in these situations, and the amount of bluntness that occurs is unpredictable. The solution: use a typeface that already has rounded corners.

FF Unit Rounded started as an exclusive typeface that Erik Spiekermann and Christian Schwartz developed. The client needed something friendly and precise to be used on-screen, on signs, in print, and even on t-shirts. This only had two weights, so when they wanted to make a complete family, they turned to Erik van Blokland, inventor of the Superpolator software.

Van Blokland ran several trials to establish the right amount of roundness for each weight. The lighter weights have almost no flat bottom, whereas the bold weights have straight bottoms on the main strokes, met by rounded corners. The radius had to be different for each weight. The final manual intervention was carried out by FontFont’s technical experts, who always end up with all the detailed stuff that type designers are too lazy to finish.

FF Unit is serious enough to be rounded, without becoming a sausage face, or one only suited for comic strips. It looks friendly without losing its precision, and it changes its appearance quite dramatically as it grows in size.

Noel Gallagher’s statement that reading fiction is a “fucking waste of time” and readers are “putting themselves a tiny little bit above the rest of us” – is a valuable contribution.

Cathy Nicol: Isle of Joy

Vince Smith met bandmates Jim Kelly and Nancy Gibbs at a Sex Pistols concert, where he tried to kiss Sid Vicious’ guitar and got a bloody nose. Together they formed Aftershock, and for a while they made a lot of noise, a bit of money and caused a sensation wherever they went.